Three Years After Buying Them: EgyptAir Sells 12 Aircraft
The chairman of the board of EgyptAir Holding Company, Yehia Zakaria, said the company has contracted to sell 12 Airbus “A220-300” aircraft because they are unsuitable for our climatic conditions, adding: We will use the proceeds of the deal to repay the loan for buying the aircraft.
Zakaria added in press statements: We will deliver the first aircraft of the deal to “Azorra” next month, and the rest of the aircraft in batches until March 2025.
EgyptAir Holding had contracted to buy 12 Airbus A220-300s in 2019 and received the last of them in September 2020.
EgyptAir also signed a new deal to buy 10 A350-900 aircraft, describing the deal as “meeting the growing demand for air transport and giving its customers the best flying experience on its network of routes extending across the world”. Airbus chief commercial officer Christian Scherer said at a press conference during the show, which runs until next Friday, that it was “an important milestone in a long and very successful partnership between (EgyptAir) and (Airbus), with a history going back more than four decades”. The deal is worth USD 3.2 billion, according to the latest price list published by Airbus.
Four Times Its Price: Former Petroleum Minister on the Price of a Butane Cylinder
Former Petroleum Minister Eng. Osama Kamal said that the unsubsidised price of a butane gas cylinder averages USD 8, equivalent to EGP 400. He pointed out in statements to TV host Ahmed Moussa that President El-Sisi pays “great attention to the petroleum sector, which now accounts for about 30% of total national output”.
Kamal said investments in the petroleum sector reached about EGP 1.5 trillion over the last decade, with the share of imported petroleum products falling from 50% to 15% since 2014.
The Egyptian President Inaugurates His Final Term from the New Capital
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will tomorrow take the constitutional oath as president for a third term before the House of Representatives at its new headquarters in the Administrative Capital. El-Sisi is expected to hold a brief meeting with the Speaker of the House, its secretary-general and its two deputy speakers before the plenary session for the oath begins.
The National Election Authority announced last December El-Sisi’s victory as president for a new presidential term with 89.6% of the vote, a total of 39,702,000 votes. El-Sisi’s new presidential term begins on 3 April and lasts for six years.
According to Article 144 of the Egyptian Constitution, “Before assuming office, the President of the Republic shall take the following oath before the House of Representatives: (I swear by Almighty God to loyally preserve the republican system, to respect the Constitution and the law, to fully look after the interests of the people, and to preserve the independence of the nation and the unity and integrity of its territory)”.
A Vice-President?
Egyptian MP Mostafa Bakry‘s talk of expectations that one or more vice-presidents would be appointed for President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi after he takes the constitutional oath on Tuesday sparked debate over whether the president would actually take this step.
Article 150 bis of the constitutional amendments approved in 2019 states that “The President of the Republic may appoint one or more vice-presidents, define their powers, delegate some of his powers to them, relieve them of their posts and accept their resignation. Before assuming their duties, the vice-presidents shall take the oath stipulated in Article 144 of the Constitution before the President of the Republic”.
The EU Eases the Flow of Financial Aid to Egypt
The European Union intends to speed up the arrival of some of its aid money to Egypt using an urgent funding procedure that bypasses parliamentary oversight and other safeguards, according to the head of the EU’s executive arm, as reported by the Associated Press. The EU intends to expedite the arrival of EUR 1 billion, which is part of a larger package worth EUR 7.4 billion.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced plans for an urgent assistance operation worth up to EUR 1 billion for Egypt, pointing in a letter to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to the country’s rapidly deteriorating economic and financial situation. It is rare for the EU to bypass safeguards, but European Parliament elections are scheduled for 6 to 9 June, a timetable that would slow the delivery of the funds.
The International Finance Corporation is considering a USD 100 million financing package for Banque du Caire, according to the corporation’s website. The IFC, the World Bank Group’s investment arm for supporting the private sector, said the financing includes a USD 50 million five-year loan, according to Al-Borsa newspaper.
Egypt’s Economy Slows to 2.3%
Egypt’s GDP growth slowed to 2.3% in the second quarter of the current fiscal year 2023-2024, compared with 3.9% in the same quarter of the previous year and 2.63% in the first quarter of the same year, according to Ministry of Planning data.
The IMF had expected Egypt’s economic growth to slow to 3% in the current fiscal year, compared with 3.8% in the previous fiscal year, before recovering to 4.5% in the next fiscal year.
External Debt Rises
Egypt’s external debt rose by about USD 3.5 billion in the last quarter of 2023 to USD 168.03 billion at the end of December, compared with about USD 164.5 billion at the end of the third quarter and USD 162.9 billion in December 2022, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Planning.
Finance Minister: 38% Growth in Tax Revenues
Finance Minister Dr Mohamed Maait said the growth rate of tax revenues since the start of the current fiscal year has so far exceeded 38%.
This came as Dr Mohamed Maait reviewed the Tax Authority’s efforts to broaden the tax base and increase tax revenues without imposing additional burdens on individuals or investors, by surveying the tax community more accurately.
First IMF Loan Tranche Next Week
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Egypt will receive the first tranche of the IMF loan next week, after the Fund’s Executive Board approved its disbursement.
Madbouly added at a press conference yesterday that the IMF Executive Board approved the disbursement of USD 820 million to Egypt after completing the first and second reviews of the Extended Fund Facility arrangement for Egypt, and agreed to increase the original programme by about USD 5 billion to USD 8 billion. Meanwhile, during the last 10 days of March Egypt paid about USD 431.2 million in two instalments to repay the principal of a loan under a previous programme with the Fund.
The Fund said Egypt had met all quantitative targets up to June 2023 except the reserves target, which was waived at the government’s request given the corrective measures it was taking and in consideration of external challenges and their impact on the economy.
It added that the recently announced USD 35 billion Ras El-Hekma investment deal will ease pressure on the balance of payments in the near term and, if used wisely, will help Egypt rebuild buffers to deal with future shocks.
Madbouly said the second tranche of the Ras El-Hekma money, worth USD 20 billion, will enter the country starting next May.
More Digitisation
Finance Minister Dr Mohamed Maait said he had stressed work to strengthen efforts to integrate the informal economy through the optimal use of digital transformation and automation and the expansion of electronic tax systems, alongside continued field campaigns and more field surveys of informal economic activities in Cairo and the governorates.
He added: “We are working to stop ‘tax leakage’ to achieve fairness among taxpayers and collect the state’s due.” Maait stressed that this helps stop “tax leakage”, achieve fairness among taxpayers and collect the state’s due.
There are strict directives to deal decisively and immediately under the law with any cases of tax evasion.
Al-Nadeem Centre Documents 247 Violations in Places of Detention in March 2024
The Al-Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture revealed, in its “Archive of Oppression” for March 2024, that it documented 247 violations in places of detention in Egypt, including deaths, torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, reappearance after disappearance and state violence.
Details of the violations announced by Al-Nadeem:
Deaths: the centre recorded 3 deaths in places of detention.
Torture: 8 cases of torture in places of detention were documented during the same month.
Ill-treatment: the number of cases of ill-treatment reached 58.
Neglect: the centre documented 14 cases of medical neglect in places of detention.
Enforced disappearance: the centre recorded 42 cases of enforced disappearance in March 2024.
State violence: the number of cases of state violence reached 59 during the same month.
The centre also documented 278 cases of reappearance after enforced disappearance.
His Health Deteriorated: State Security Releases a Child
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said the Supreme State Security Prosecution today released the child “M.S.” after 10 months in pretrial detention. The initiative had issued an urgent appeal last week to Prosecutor General Counsellor Mohamed Shawky and Interior Minister Major General Mahmoud Tawfik about the deterioration of the child’s health, calling on them to act quickly to save him from the risk of losing his sight or dying, as the authorities refused to carry out urgent surgery he needed and did not allow his family to carry out the surgery themselves at their own expense.
The initiative added in a statement that “M.S.” was arrested from his home on 24 May 2023 when he was 16 years old, and remained in detention without legal justification until he was brought before the prosecution on 9 June 2023, which charged him with joining a terrorist group. After that, on 17 July 2023, the court decided to release him with a guarantee of his place of residence, in consideration of his very serious health condition, but the Ministry of Interior refused to implement the court’s decision and brought him again on 19 July 2023 before the State Security Prosecution, which again charged him with joining a terrorist group in the current case. His pretrial detention continued to be renewed without regard to any of the arguments of the Egyptian Initiative’s lawyers that he must be released because the grounds for his detention no longer existed, “and without even responding to the requests of the lawyers and the family to provide health care for the child”.
The initiative pointed out that during the months he spent in pretrial detention, M.S.’s health deteriorated rapidly, according to medical reports issued by Benha University Hospital, which confirmed that the child suffers from optic nerve swelling, high intracranial pressure and blood thinning. The reports concluded that he needed a lumbar puncture, the fitting of a brain shunt and a platelet transfusion. Because of the continued delay of the surgery and the child’s reliance on medication alone, his condition worsened, and he developed heart rhythm disturbances in detention.
State Security Renews the Detention of Ahmed Gika
The Supreme State Security Prosecution decided to renew the detention of Ahmed Hamdy, known as “Ahmed Gika”, for 15 days pending case No. 165 of 2024, Supreme State Security, according to the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms.
Ahmed Gika had been released on 22 January on bail of EGP 3,000, but he remained missing for about a month. His mother filed a complaint with the Prosecutor General to investigate his detention in an unknown place, reveal where he was being held and release him.
He eventually appeared before the State Security Prosecution to be investigated again, on the same charges on which he had been released.
Gaza Interior Ministry: A Suspicious Security Force Entered the Strip with an Aid Convoy
An official at the Interior Ministry in Gaza said a suspicious security force entered yesterday, Saturday, with Egyptian Red Crescent trucks, in coordination with the Israeli occupation.
The official explained that the head of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service, Major General Majed Faraj, ran the force’s operation in a deceptive security manner, misleading the factions and clans. The official confirmed that Interior Ministry forces in Rafah arrested 6 of the suspicious force’s leadership and are continuing to arrest more.
He added that the Egyptian side informed the Crossings Authority that it had no knowledge of the force that received the Egyptian trucks.
The official said instructions reached them from the resistance factions’ operations room to deal with any security force that does not enter Gaza through the resistance.
Israel’s official public broadcaster (Kan) had said that Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant proposed that Palestinian Authority intelligence chief Majed Faraj temporarily run the Gaza Strip after the end of the war.
The broadcaster said Israel is considering using Faraj to build an alternative to the rule of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on the day after the war.
The proposal provides for Majed Faraj to run Gaza with the help of figures, none of whom are members of Hamas.
The Scale of Destruction at Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza
Images circulated on social media showing the scale of destruction at Al-Shifa Medical Complex, following reports of the Israeli army’s withdrawal from it on Monday. Palestinian television confirmed that the army burned the buildings of Al-Shifa complex and that it was completely out of service, pointing out that the scale of destruction at the complex and the surrounding buildings was very large.
Palestinian security sources told the German news agency that civil defence crews had so far recovered nearly 300 bodies. They explained that the bodies were lying everywhere in the hospital, with some showing signs of decomposition. Gaza’s Civil Defence confirmed finding hundreds of bodies after the Israeli army withdrew from Al-Shifa Medical Complex at dawn today, Monday.
Gaza Civil Defence spokesman Major Mahmoud Basal said there were about 300 martyrs in Al-Shifa complex and its surroundings after the occupation forces withdrew. Basal added that the Israeli forces burned the departments of Al-Shifa Hospital and destroyed all its medical equipment and supplies.
